NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, November 21, 2020
Bend nonprofi t starts RV housing program for families
By BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
BEND — This winter,
four families who otherwise
would have likely spent the
winter living in their cars or
on the streets will now have a
home.
These families will have
a place to go thanks to a new
alternative housing RV Pro-
gram started by DAWNS
House, a Bend nonprofi t
organization that offers tran-
sitional housing for women
suffering from addiction.
The
project,
which
launched Wednesday, Nov.
18, went from inspiration to
reality in less than 60 days,
said Dawn Holland, the exec-
utive director of DAWNS
House. The program is the
fi rst of its kind in Bend,
thanks to the city’s COVID-
19 emergency declaration,
which allowed it to move
forward.
“I feel like the universe
kind of orchestrated this
whole thing,” Holland said.
The inspiration for the RV
program began as far back as
last summer, when Holland
and her daughter traveled
around in their own RV.
“I thought, ‘Wow, some-
one could really use this as a
home,’” Holland said.
But that idea turned into
action after Holland attended
a meeting about Bend’s cold
weather shelter and heard
Ryan Brennecke/Bend Bulletin
Alan Sawyers, who works with DAWNS House, measures where to park a RV while working on
setting up the transitional housing site in Bend on Nov. 12, 2020.
about the number of fami-
lies that have been displaced
because of COVID-19-related
hardship.
“The need is so immense,”
Holland said.
For years, the property
next to DAWNS House off
Dean Swift Road has sat
vacant. So one day Holland
asked the owner of the land,
who also owned the land
where DAWNS House sits,
if she could rent the lot and
put RVs on it for housing. The
owner said yes.
Then she heard that
there was funding available
through the coronavirus relief
act, which is federal money
that was diverted to local
communities for COVID-19
relief, to pay for the project.
She received $48,000 from
United Way, which helps the
city distribute the funding,
and was able to buy fi ve used
RVs: four for families and one
for an on-site supervisor to
manage the program.
In less than three weeks,
Holland and her team turned
an empty lot into a gravel lot
with access to electricity for
four new homes.
The housing is free to help
Forecast for Pendleton Area
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people save money and get
back on their feet, but limited
to three months, Holland said.
Though families don’t have to
identify as addicts, because
her other properties are drug-
and alcohol-free, families
who move into the RVs also
must agree to be sober.
“It’s a drop in the bucket.
The need is so great,” Holland
said. “But for those four fami-
lies, it will mean a lot.”
Holland’s passion to help
people comes from the fact
that she received help herself
to get to where she is today.
“I’m a woman with addic-
A stray afternoon
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Rain and drizzle in
the morning
Mostly cloudy
A couple of
showers possible
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
48° 39°
48° 33°
53° 38°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
45° 25°
38° 30°
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51° 31°
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OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
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TEMP.
Seattle
50/38
Kennewick Walla Walla
47/28
Lewiston
51/35
46/26
Astoria
53/37
42/30
46/26
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24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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Pullman
Yakima 43/26
50/34
44/28
Portland
Hermiston
50/36
The Dalles 45/25
Salem
Corvallis
47/29
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
43/26
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
46/30
48/20
44/21
Ontario
42/25
42/21
39/16
0.00"
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WINDS (in mph)
Caldwell
Burns
51°
29°
48°
32°
65° (1962) 6° (1929)
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Albany
49/32
through 3 p.m. yest.
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LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 42/27
48/30
0.00"
2.30"
0.92"
12.06"
11.54"
10.95"
HERMISTON
Enterprise
46/26
46/29
49°
30°
47°
32°
69° (1958) 9° (1977)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
50/34
Olympia
41/26
40/30
Tacoma
Aberdeen
Spokane
Wenatchee
51/40
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
52/28
Today
Sun.
NNE 3-6
NE 4-8
SSW 3-6
WSW 4-8
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
43/15
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
7:03 a.m.
4:19 p.m.
1:06 p.m.
11:02 p.m.
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NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 90° in Tucson, Ariz. Low -7° in Daniel, Wyo.
of the pandemic and eco-
nomic fallout that followed,
more churches and other
organizations became inter-
ested in wanting to let peo-
ple live legally in their park-
ing lots.
“These are not ideal sit-
uations for anybody … but
many people don’t have
options,” Julber said.
The emergency order will
remain in place until the state
moves into Phase 3 of reopen-
ing — essentially meaning,
until there is a COVID-19
vaccine. Until then, the city
will review applications to
make sure organizations have
sanitation and safety plans,
but will not review temporary
housing sites like Holland’s
for things like building code.
“We don’t want this to be
too onerous,” Julber said.
Holland said she would
like to continue this hous-
ing program long term, but
whether she will be able to do
that once the emergency order
expires remains unclear. Jul-
ber said there are currently
conversations happening at
the city about allowing differ-
ent kinds of housing options
in the future, though nothing
is set in stone.
Holland said it feels good
to be able to say “yes” for
once when she gets emails
from people she knows
looking to house someone,
but said the endeavor is also
new and scary.
Oregon voters sour on state of nation
Associated Press
Partly sunny
tion and alcoholism, and I
came from sober living,” Hol-
land said. “After dozens of
detox days and treatment cen-
ters, it was the only thing that
worked for me.”
She struggled with addic-
tion for years until someone
told her to contact a Bend bed-
and-breakfast that was trans-
formed into a women’s tran-
sitional home called Country
in the City Women’s Housing,
according to past reporting in
The Bulletin.
She eventually earned a
degree from Central Oregon
Community College in busi-
ness and restaurant manage-
ment. But when she heard the
transitional home she lived in
was closing, she decided to
open DAWNS House in May
2015. To date, Holland said
she has helped 600 women.
Before COVID-19, a proj-
ect like this wouldn’t have
been possible in the city of
Bend.
Holland is the fi rst to for-
mally apply for and take
advantage of a provision in
the city’s emergency COVID-
19 declaration that allows for
temporary camping on pri-
vate property, said Susanna
Julber, a senior project and
policy manager at the city.
“Traditionally, camping
wouldn’t be allowed on pri-
vate property in the city,” Jul-
ber said.
But as the number of dis-
placed people grew because
SALEM — Voters in
Oregon made their pick for
president while holding neg-
ative views about the coun-
try’s direction, according
to an expansive Associated
Press survey of the American
electorate.
The race between Pres-
ident Donald Trump and
Democratic rival Joe Biden
has concluded as the nation
remains in the throes of a
global public health crisis and
mired in the economic down-
turn it brought on.
AP VoteCast found that
34% of Oregon voters said the
U.S. is on the right track and
65% of voters said it is headed
in the wrong direction.
Here’s a snapshot of who
voted and what matters to
them, based on preliminary
results from AP VoteCast, a
nationwide survey of about
133,000 voters and nonvot-
ers — including 3,226 voters
and 495 nonvoters in Oregon
— conducted for The Asso-
ciated Press by NORC at the
University of Chicago.
Trump vs. Biden
In the race for president,
Biden had an advantage over
Trump among both voters
under 45 and older voters.
Biden led among col-
lege-educated voters, while
Trump and Biden were about
tied among voters without a
college degree.
Both voters in cities and
suburban voters were more
likely to prefer Biden over
Trump, while voters in small
towns and rural areas were
more likely to back Trump.
Race for Senate
In the race for U.S. Senate,
Jeff Merkley had an advan-
tage over Jo Rae Perkins
among both voters under 45
and older voters.
College-educated voters
were more likely to support
Merkley, while voters with-
out a college degree were
divided. Both voters in cit-
ies and suburban voters were
more likely to favor Merkley
over Perkins, while voters in
small towns and rural areas
were more likely to support
Perkins.
Facing the pandemic
The coronavirus pan-
demic has spread through
the U.S. for roughly eight
months, killing more than
250,000 Americans. Overall,
18% of voters said the virus
in the U.S. is completely or
mostly under control, and
26% said it’s somewhat under
control. Fifty-fi ve percent of
voters think the coronavirus
is not at all under control in
this country.
On the issues
The coronavirus pan-
demic was top of mind for
many voters in Oregon.
Forty percent said it is the
most important issue fac-
ing the country today. Voters
also considered the economy
a major issue, with 25% say-
ing it ranked at the top.
Nine percent named cli-
mate change, 8% named
health care and 6% named
racism.
National economy
Voters were more negative
than positive in their assess-
ments of the nation’s econ-
omy. Overall, 38% described
economic conditions in the
U.S. as excellent or good, and
62% called them not so good
or poor.
Staying at home
Among registered voters
who chose not to cast a ballot
in Oregon, 26% said that was
because they don’t like poli-
tics generally, 20% said they
don’t like the candidates and
14% said their vote doesn’t
matter.
In Oregon, 75% of non-
voters were younger than 45
and 80% did not have a col-
lege degree.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
IN BRIEF
Oxbow man seriously
injured in crash
BAKER CITY — Oregon State Police
offi cers are investigating a crash that left an
Oxbow man seriously injured when he was
ejected from his pickup truck as it rolled down
a steep embankment near Oxbow on Nov. 12.
Damon Taylor Molina, 41, remained in
serious condition at Saint Alphonsus Med-
ical Center in Boise, Mark Snider, hospital
spokesman, said Nov. 17.
OSP Sr. Trooper Nicholas Hagedorn stated
in his media log report that Molina was trav-
eling west on Highway 86 about 5 miles south
of Oxbow when he drove his 2006 Chevrolet
pickup truck straight through a corner. Hage-
dorn said the vehicle crossed a wide gravel
pullout, and then traveled down the steep
earthen embankment.
Molina, who was not wearing a seat belt
and was alone, was ejected from the vehicle as
it rolled. The vehicle came to rest upside down
about 50 feet from the embankment.
Molina was fi rst taken by Halfway Rural
Fire Department ambulance to a site where
the Life Flight air ambulance could pick him
up for transfer to the Boise hospital.
“Impairment is being investigated as a
contributing factor in the crash,” Hagedorn
stated in his report.
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